Nada Homsi

The effort was launched after a sniffer dog named Flash signaled to his Chilean search and rescue team that someone might be alive under a pile of concrete and debris.

"Lebanese people have to help each other in the absence of a functioning state," says Hussein Kazoun of Nation Station, a volunteer disaster relief effort operating out of an abandoned gas station.

"May God protect Lebanon," Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab said as he announced his resignation days after a disastrous explosion rocked Beirut.

Tuesday's blast came against a backdrop of ongoing, unaddressed government dysfunction. Some of the country's chronic problems may help explain how 2,750 tons of explosives were neglected at the port.

Medical workers in and outside the country say there's a lack of medicine and tests.

The Middle Eastern country had relatively few cases and had relaxed its shutdown. Residents will be asked to avoid outings except for emergencies.